Pritzker signs pledge not to diminish abortion rights

May 15--Democratic governor candidate J.B. Pritzker Monday signed a pledge not to diminish abortion rights expanded by a bill signed by GOP Gov. Bruce Rauner.

"I want to make sure that everyone in the state of Illinois knows that if you elect me governor, you will have an unwavering supporter of women's rights, a woman's right to choose and her right to privacy," Pritzker said at state AFL-CIO headquarters. "I have believed in this my whole life."

Rauner signed House Bill 40 in September. It expanded the right to get abortions for women on Medicaid and state employee insurance.

The Republican governor said he had a change of heart before he signed it -- as a spokeswoman had announced the previous April that he would veto the measure. But the signature matched what he said during the 2014 campaign, as he had expressed support for the abortion rights granted in the legislation in a questionnaire for Personal PAC, a pro-choice group. It was that group that recently asked candidates for governor this year to sign the pledge that Pritzker signed Monday.

At the event Monday, state Sen. Heather Steans, D-Chicago, who sponsored the bill in the Senate, said the process of trying to get the bill approved by Rauner was "a total roller coaster. ... The governor was for it, then he was against it, then he was for it," she said. "There was a lot of flip-flopping going on."

She also said that abortion rights are under attack at the national level and in other states.

"Here in Illinois, we are truly a haven, and it's scary to think what would happen to not just Illinois women, but so many women even from surrounding states that have come here to have their fundamental rights protected," Steans said.

Rauner's signature on HB40 was criticized by some socially conservative Republicans, including Rep. Jeanne Ives, R-Wheaton, who said that action was the key that led her to challenge Rauner in the March primary. She got 48.5 percent of the GOP vote-- just 3 points behind Rauner.

The pledge signed by Pritzker states in part that he supports HB40 100 percent, and 'I will not sign any legislation that repeals, modifies or in any way diminishes HB40."